Monday, 28 March 2016

Instagram's Latest Update For Algorithm-Based Feed Erupts On Social Media

Instagram has recently announced that it will be trialing changes in
the way it displays posts -- to the dismay of many of its users.
The
free social network announced earlier this month that it will no longer
display photos in chronological order but in order of importance,
through an algorithm similar to that used by Facebook.

“You may be surprised to learn that people miss on average 70 percent of their feeds,” explained a network blog post.

“To improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you care about the most.”

The
algorithm will optimise the order of appearing photos and videos based
on a user's interests, their relationship with the poster and the
timeliness of the post.

“If your favorite musician shares a video
from last night’s concert, it will be waiting for you when you wake up,
no matter how many accounts you follow or what time zone you live in.”

The
change is currently in a ‘testing period’ to be unveiled in the coming
months, and to many users it will signal a minor shift. All posts will
still be displayed, just in a different order.

For those who rely on the network, the update is set to prove more drastic. A change.org petition
arguing the case of small businesses -- who use the network to leverage
their audience and product markups -- currently has over 315,000
signatures:

“Is this something that the community really wants?
After what happened when Facebook switched to algorithm-based feeds,
it’s certainly not something that small business will want!”

Overnight,
social media feared an impending switch to the new feed. A wave of
celebs and prominent Instagrammers urged their audiences to ‘turn on
notifications’ in an attempt to keep their accounts from disappearing
into the network's looming abyss.